Firefighters, Deputy Sheriffs contribute $80,000 to help her beat Glover

By Allen Payton

The latest campaign finance reports were due on Thursday, May 26th and they show a $35,000 contribution from the International Association of Fire Fighters to the special committee formed to support Martinez Vice Mayor AnaMarie Avila Farias in her campaign for District 5 County Supervisor. She’s running to unseat four-term incumbent Federal Glover. The report covers the time period of May 4-21, 2016.

The firefighters’ contribution brings their total amount of support for Avila Farias’ campaign to $40,000. It is in addition to the $5,000 they previously contributed directly to her campaign committee. It also matches the $35,000 contribution to the Contra Costa County Families for Responsible Leadership Supporting AnaMarie Avila Farias for Supervisor 2016 committee from the Contra Costa DSA (Deputy Sheriff’s Association) Independent Expenditure PAC and their $5,000 contribution directly to her campaign.

As previously reported, the funds paid for $15,000 on research, as well as $12,908.60 for design, printing and postage for a mailer. An additional $25,674.44 reported was spent on two more mailers. All the costs for the mailers were paid to a company in Washington, D.C.

“The Children’s PAC is a volunteer-led group of parents who are working to change the status quo of public education in California,” said the Children’s PAC in a press release. “We support courageous candidates like Debora Allen who are willing to put party politics aside and work in the best interest of kids. Kids are the most important special interest group.”

Allen is running on a platform of bringing more accountability, transparency and efficiency to California’s state government.

Campaigns are required to file reports of contributions received by their campaigns of $2,000 or more, within 24 hours of receiving them, between March 9 and June 7, 2016. The rules changed in the county, this year, increasing from $1,000 to $2,000. However, the form provided by the County Elections Office had the old information on it and some candidates weren’t informed of the change. So, some of their reports reflect contributions of less than $2,000.

Some of the contributions that can be seen in the reports, known as 497 forms, below have been reported previously, on the regularly scheduled financial reports – 460 forms – for the period January 1 through April 23, 2016.

Martinez Vice Mayor Anamarie Avila Farias and Supervisor Federal Glover were the only candidates to submit any 497 forms.

However, the specifically formed Contra Costa Families for Responsible Leadership Supporting Anamarie Avila Farias for Supervisor committee submitted a 497 report showing it had received $35,000 from the Contra Costa County DSA (Deputy Sheriffs Association) Independent Expenditure PAC. Of those funds $12,908.60 was spent for the design, printing and postage for a mailer in support of Avila Farias and another $15,000 on research, which could be for polling, as reported on the newly formed committee’s 496 Independent Expenditure Report.

The Deputy Sheriffs also contributed the maximum of $5,000 directly to Avila Farias’ campaign committee which she reported on a 497 report.

So far those are the largest contributions and independent expenditures of anyone or organization reported in the District 5 Supervisor’s race.

When asked if she had any comment on the large amount of money spent on her behalf, Avila Farias replied “I can’t control outside spending for me or against me. So, I don’t pay attention to it.”

“I’m concentrating on my efforts to meet voters by going door-to-door, through phone calls and the mailbox and it’s going very well,” she added.

Her 497 reports also show new contributions, since the last reporting period, of $1,675 from Service Employees International Union Local 1021 Candidate PAC, $1,675 each from DeNova Homes in Concord and Lori Sanson of Walnut Creek, $1,600 each from General Contractor James Busby and Scott Busby Construction, $1,000 from International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) Local 21 TJ Anthony PAC Fund. Her reports also show previously reported contributions of $5,000 from the United Professional Fire Fighters of Contra Costa County and $1,675 from Antioch Councilman Tony Tiscareno.

Glover’s reports

Glover also submitted 497’s showing new contributions of $5,000 from the California Nurses Association PAC, $4,000 from the Building Industry Association’s BUILD JOBS PAC, $1,675 from the Teamsters’ DRIVE Committee in Washington DC, $1,675 from the Contra Costa Coalition for Business and Jobs, $1,650 from the Pittsburg Police Benefit Association, $1,000 from the Northern California District Council of Laborers PAC, and $1,675 each from a variety of individuals and businesses including, County Clerk Joe Canciamilla’s campaign committee, Dr. Laura Canciamilla’s school board campaign committee, and an accounting firm in Carson City, Nevada that specializes in the solid waste industry.

Glover’s reports also show previously reported large contributions of $5,000 from the IBEW (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers) Local Union 302 PAC, $2,000 from the Operating Engineers Local 3, $1,675 from U.A. (United Association) Local 342 P.A.C. Fund, $1,500 from the Northern California Carpenters Regional Council, $1,000 from the Laborers International Union of North America Local No. 324, $2,000 from Bisio and Dunivan, a property management company in Martinez, and another $1,000 from Joanne Dunivan-Bisio at the same address as Bisio and Dunivan.

The latest reporting period ended this last Saturday, May 21 and 460 reports are due this Thursday, May 26. Contributions of $100 or more will appear on those forms.

Khan Academy, Google.org, 49ers celebrate Bay Area students who have demonstrated hustle, grit and mastery of math

A student (left) from Pleasant Hill Elementary School collaborates with a teammate during the carnival at Khan Academy’s LearnStorm Final event at Levi’s Stadium on Saturday, May 7th, 2016. photos by David Kong

By John Cogswell & Nicole Villanueva

Students from Pleasant Hill Elementary School, Live Oak Elementary School in San Ramon and Highland Elementary School in Richmond, were among 300 students from across the Bay Area, who attended Khan Academy’s LearnStorm Final event at Levi’s Stadium, to recognize their math accomplishments, on Saturday, May 7, 2016. These students were among the 75,000 students that registered in the Bay Area for LearnStorm, a free, 9-week math challenge that celebrates student progress, mastery, and hustle learning math on Khan Academy.

Unlike traditional math competitions, LearnStorm is breaking new ground by rewarding not only the knowledge students attain, but the learning skills they need to attain it. LearnStorm is powered by the Silicon Valley-based educational nonprofit Khan Academy, which seeks to provide a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere.

A student (middle) from Live Oak Elementary School participates in a team-building activity.

Notable representatives from the Google.org, the San Francisco 49ers, including Jesse Lovejoy, director of STEM Education and the 49ers Museum, and Khan Academy CEO, Sal Khan helped celebrate the achievements of these students. The LearnStorm 2016 Finals were hosted by the 49ers who lent additional support this year alongside lead funder Google.org.

Other Stats:

Over 40% of the Bay Area students that enrolled in LearnStorm attended schools that had at least 50% of their student populations qualifying for the National School Lunch Program.

Over 15 million problems completed by students registered for LearnStorm Bay Area 2016

Over 200,000 hours spent on Khan Academy by students registered for LearnStorm Bay Area 2016.

A student from Highland Elementary School enjoyed the carnival.

Khan Academy is a 501(c)3 nonprofit with a mission to change education for the better by providing a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere. We believe that students of all ages should have free, unlimited access to the best educational content, and that they should be able to consume and master this content at their own pace. In addition, we believe that there are incredible opportunities to use intelligent software development, deep data analytics, and intuitive user interfaces to more effectively surface and present these educational resources to students and teachers around the world. Our library of content covers kindergarten to early college math, science topics such as biology, chemistry, and physics, and reaches into humanities with tutorials on economics, finance, music, philosophy, and art history. To date, we have delivered more than 750M lessons and more than 5 billion practice problems. For further information, visit www.khanacademy.org.

“Debora demonstrates strong fiscal responsibility and experience in both the public and private sectors,” Andersen said. “We need more smart women like her, who can work collaboratively with both major parties, to get things done in Sacramento.”

Allen is running on a platform bringing more accountability, transparency, and efficiency to California’s state government.

“I’m honored to have the support of Supervisor Andersen, who has been a tireless champion for us on the Contra Costa Board of Supervisors,” Allen said.

The 14th Assembly District includes Concord, Clayton, Martinez, Pleasant Hill and portions of Pittsburg and Walnut Creek in Contra Costa County, as well as Benicia and Vallejo in Solano County. To learn more about Allen’s campaign visit www.deboraallen.com.

Concord – On Monday, May 16, 2016, at 2:36 AM, CPD officers responded to Newhall Park for the report of a body in the pond at that location. A person in the park saw the body and called the police. Upon arrival, officers found an adult female in the water. They pulled her from the water and determined she was deceased.

Major Crimes Unit Detectives were called out and assumed the investigation. It was determined that the female was the victim of a homicide. She has been identified as 25-year-old Concord resident Poinsettia Parks.

Detectives have identified 26-year-old Erick Lamar Nelson as a suspect in this case. There is currently a warrant for Nelson’s arrest and he should be considered armed and dangerous. Nelson is described as a black male adult, 6’1”, 185 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. Nelson was known to the victim.

Detectives are also trying to locate a black, four door 2003 Kia Spectra with CA license plate 5ENY919. Nelson may be in possession of this vehicle.

If Nelson or the Kia are seen, please do not approach and immediately call 911. Anyone with information about his case is asked to call Detective Greg Pardella at (925) 603-5922. Anyone wishing to remain anonymous may call the Concord Police Department Tip-Line at (925)-603-5836.

County Supervisor Federal Glover did not show up for a recent District 5 candidates’ forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters and televised on Contra Costa TV. His absence proved to be a metaphor for the most common refrain among the other four candidates: Glover’s lack of leadership in his district on a variety of issues, including warnings of “horrendous” gridlock when the Concord Naval Weapons Station property is developed.

Glover has served on the Board of Supervisors for 16 years and is seeking a fifth term. He has missed numerous governmental meetings in recent years due to health problems, including a heart and kidney transplant last year.

When reached for comment he said he was unable to attend the forum because of

None of the other candidates mentioned Glover by name. But they all criticized the lack of leadership in his district, which snakes along the northern county waterfront from Antioch to Hercules.

“The reason why I’m running for public office is because there is a lack of leadership,” Hercules Mayor Dan Romero. “We have an absent supervisor right now. He tends to stay in two different areas, Pittsburg and Bay Point. And, unfortunately, there’s several other cities inside there. The number one [thing] I keep on hearing is that the supervisor never shows up. You go to Crockett, Rodeo, Port Costa, and it’s the same thing that keeps on coming up.”

Department of Homeland Security analyst Conrad Dandridge cited the district’s lack of leadership three times when asked why he decided to run for office. “Some areas of this district have not seen their member of the board ever – that includes me,” he said. “I promise if elected that I will meet with you the residents at least once a month in every region of our district from Pinole to Antioch to Clyde to Port Costa.”

Martinez Vice-Mayor Anamarie Avila Farias and former Martinez Mayor Mike Menesini also criticized the district’s leadership vacuum. “I will bring leadership that has been absent,” said Farias. Menesini said, “What I’m seeing is a real problem with leadership.”

One of Menesini’s top concerns is lack of county input into the planned development of the Concord Naval Weapons Station property at Highway 4 and Willow Pass Road.

“We do have a huge problem that is about to unfold with respect to the Highway 4 corridor, which goes from Hercules out to Antioch,” said Menesini. “The city of Concord is proposing to build a city on top of Willow Pass Road: 12,000 homes, 6 million square feet of commercial space – and not one provision for how transportation is going to be mitigated.

“The fact is, if you live in Antioch, Pittsburg and anywhere along the Highway 4 corridor, you are going to be severely impacted by this development. And the county has sat on its hands. It has not offered one bit of mitigation advice to the city of Concord.”

Romero agreed. “Transportation gridlock in the Concord area is absolutely going to be horrendous as the Concord Naval Weapons Station comes on board,” he said. “I feel that the Concord Naval Weapons Station is a failed project right now because of all of the influx on the city council in Concord. I think that the board should be taking a leadership step and being a part of that process.

“We have to represent all. That means there should be some sort of statement coming from the supervisors’ office about what’s going to happen. Absolutely traffic is going to be horrendous once that project gets going. We have 15 to 20 years before the project starts, but that leadership starts today.”

Farias advocated moving jobs to where the homes are.

“I think [the solution] is passing good policy to create livable communities,” she said. “Live and work in your communities. We have become a community of commuters, which has contributed to a lot of our freeway congestion. I think if we would have had a lot better regional planning within our communities in addition to really creating the job centers. We burden a system that is inadequately funded.

“So I would bring leadership to bring policy that creates more livable communities to reduce that impact on freeway congestion. And also seek increased funding for transportation needs that are in the spirit of sustainability and livable communities.”

Dandridge said the focus should be on transportation improvements.

“Gridlock is already here,” he said. “I live two minutes from probably the worst freeway interchange in the county or northern California: 680 and Highway 4. In 1988 the voters of Contra Costa County passed Measure C, increasing our sales tax, to fix that. That project is well overdue. And it just got pushed off the table again. And not one member of the board said, ‘Whoa, this has to be fixed.’

“But gridlock is more than just improving freeways. It’s improving public transportation systems. Our public transportation system in this county is non-existent. We can’t move people from west to east. Better planning needs to be accomplished. But most importantly, we need to accomplish those things that the voters have already approved doing. And that at the top of my list would be the Highway 4 interchange.”

The candidates were mostly in agreement on other issues discussed at the forum. They:

Oppose the proposed twin tunnels project transferring water from north of the Delta to southern California.

Oppose moving the urban limit line to allow more development on agricultural and open space lands.

Support providing more affordable housing.

Agree that the county has addressed its pension funding issue for now, but more compensation adjustments may be needed down the road.

Agree that the county supervisor’s job requires more than 40 hours a week.

In the race for Contra Costa County Supervisor in District 5, the incumbent, Federal Glover has an overwhelming lead in campaign funding in his bid for a fifth term. Reports were due on Thursday, April 28 covering the period of January 1 through April 23, 2016 and only three of the five candidates submitted one.

He reported raising $26,894 during the period, but started with a beginning cash balance of $37,372.32 in his campaign account. Glover carried over $23,616.51 from his 2012 re-election campaign account and didn’t start raising funds for his 2016 re-election campaign until 2014, for a total of $5,025 for that year. Then, last year he raised another $13,055 for a total of $45,469 raised for this year’s re-election effort,

Glover also has an Officeholder Account which had $68,918.40 in the bank at the beginning of the year. However, he stated today, Thursday, May 12, 2016, that (correcting the record from previous misinformation provided to this reporter) those funds can not be spent on his re-election campaign.

“I wish I had that money for my campaign,” Glover said with a laugh.

The other two who submitted reports were Martinez Vice Mayor AnaMarie Avila Farias, who was in a distant second, having raised $7,000 and Hercules Mayor Dan Romero, who reported raising $5,655.

A supervisor candidate’s campaign committee is required to file a Form 460 financial report to the County Clerk’s Office, if they have raised or spent $2,000 or more in an election. However, the filing and ballot statement fees are not counted against that amount.

“It just got turned in. There was a mix up,” Dandridge said. “I turned it into the state.”

“I have just started raising money after the 23rd but, I turned one in anyhow for transparency,” he added. “I hadn’t raised $2,000 but I am at that threshold, now. I got donations, last week.

Asked if he was a serious candidate since he hadn’t raised at least $2,000 by April 23rd, Dandridge responded, “I am a serious candidate.”

“My learning curve, based on my first, and only race, when I first ran in 2006, I learned some serious lessons that I am applying, now,” Dandridge continued. “Last time I was a self-funded candidate. Had the option to do that, now but don’t plan to do that this time. We have a Go-Fund me page. Folks wanted to fund me early on, but I told them to wait. But, the funds are coming in.”

Glover’s largest contribution during the reporting period was $5,000 from I.B.E.W. Local Union No. 302 PAC. Glover spent a total of $41,915.74 from both accounts, with almost half of that, $20,245.67 paid to Rossi Communications, for his campaign consultant Mary Jo Rossi. He ended the period with $25,388.35 in the bank.

Avila Farias’s largest contribution was $5,000 from the Professional Firefighters in the county. She showed no expenses, although she has large campaign signs up in the District.

When asked why the expense was not reported, Avila Farias replied “We hadn’t been invoiced for them, yet.”

She also stated she had received another $5,000 contribution from the Deputy Sheriffs Association, since the reporting period ended.

Romero’s largest contributions were $1,675 received from Republic Services, one of the garbage companies in the county, and $1,500 from Sonnikson Stordahl Construction in Martinez.

Menesini did not respond to efforts to contact him for this story.

Please see the reports, below. Additional reports for Glover have been added for the periods he raised funds for his 2016 re-election campaign committee. All of his reports prior to that period can be seen on the County Elections Office website.

After hearing input from the public at their special meeting on April 13, as well as a public apology from Lennar Urban CEO Kofi Bonner for the causing the controversy over contributions to Councilman Tim Grayson’s Assembly campaign, the Concord City Council, sitting as the Local Reuse Authority (LRA) for the Concord Naval Weapons Station, directed staff to meet with representatives from Lennar Urban to revise their Term Sheet.

Staff will make a presentation on the matter at tonight’s council meeting. The council will also have the opportunity to finalize their decision on selecting Lennar as the Master Developer for Phase I of the weapons station Reuse Plan.

According to the staff report, they “also reviewed the alternatives to selecting a Master Developer to determine whether any one of them is a viable or superior approach for Concord. This staff report provides analysis of both efforts.”

Furthermore, staff states that Lennar is committed to sign the revised Term Sheet, should the council vote to select Lennar as the Master Developer.

Following is the agenda item with a link to the complete, 175 page staff report.

CITY COUNCIL/CITY COUNCIL SITTING AS THE LOCAL REUSE AUTHORITY CONSIDERATION ITEMS

The public is entitled to address the City Council on items appearing on the agenda before or during the City Council’s consideration of that item. Each speaker will be limited to approximately three minutes.

Presentation – of a revised Lennar Term Sheet and consideration of staff’s recommendation that City Council select Lennar Concord LLC as the Master Developer for the Development Phase One Property at the Concord Naval Weapons Station and proceed to the Disposition and Development Agreement (DDA) stage of the negotiation period, as defined in the Agreement to Negotiate between the Local Reuse Authority and Lennar. Report by Guy Bjerke, Director of Community Reuse Planning.

The council meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. at the City Council Chambers at Concord City Hall, 1950 Parkside Drive. Meetings can also be viewed on Concord TV, available on Comcast Channel 28, Wave Channel 29, and U-verse Channel 99.

District Attorney Mark Peterson announced, Friday that after an extensive investigation, 11 felony charges were filed against Nathan and Sarah Moore, owners of NRM Renovations, Inc., in Concord for workers’ compensation fraud, grand theft of labor and payroll tax fraud.

When reached for comment, Nathan Moore said “No comment. I have no comment.”

The investigation originally began with a series of wage and labor complaints to the U.S. Department of Labor in June of 2015. Allegations included that workers were not being paid for work they completed doing hotel renovations for NRM Renovations. The Department of Labor forwarded these complaints to the District Attorney’s office, and a joint investigation of suspected labor violations began. The investigation expanded to include three state agencies. The CA Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) assisted in interviewing the employees. The CA Department of Insurance (CDI) investigated allegations regarding the underpayment of workers’ compensation insurance premiums. The Employment and Development Department (EDD) helped investigate tax and payroll issues.

NRM Renovations is alleged to owe over $30,000 in back wages to several employees, approximately $250,000 in workers’ compensation premiums to several different insurance companies, and back taxes to the EDD on over $1,000,000 in wages.

Charges include three counts of violating Insurance Code §11760(a) (Workers’ Compensation fraud), and one violation each of Insurance Code §11880(a) (Workers’ Compensation fraud), Penal Code §487 (grand theft of labor), Unemployment Insurance Code (“UI”) §2108 (nonpayment of contributions), UI Code §2177.5 (failure to file a return), and UI 2118.5 (Failure to account and pay over taxes). Due to the amount of loss, the defendants were also charged with an Aggravated White Collar Crime enhancement under Penal Code §186.11(a)(3).

“Businesses that exploit their workers through wage theft will be prosecuted,” said District Attorney Mark Peterson. “We place a priority on restitution for all victims.”

Multiple agencies assisted the Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office with this investigation including: the US Department of Labor, the Department of Industrial Relations, the Department of Insurance, the Employment and Development Department, the State Compensation Insurance Fund, Norguard and Benchmark Insurance Companies.